Archive for July 6th, 2010

Last Week in the News
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The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city housing price index — on a seasonally adjusted basis — rose 0.8% in April after a 0.1% decline in March.
The consumer confidence index fell to 52.9 in June from a revised 62.7 in May. Economists had anticipated a reading of 62.8. The index was benchmarked at 100 in 1985, a year chosen because it was neither a peak nor a trough in consumer confidence.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending June 25 increased 8.8%. Refinancing applications rose 12.6%. Purchase volume fell 3.3%.
The Institute for Supply Management reported that the monthly composite index of manufacturing activity was 56.2 in June after reaching 59.7 in May. A reading above 50 signals expansion. It was the 11th straight month of expansion.
Total construction spending fell 0.2% to $841.9 billion in May, following a revised 2.3% rise in April. Economists had anticipated a steeper drop of 0.5% in May.
The National Association of Realtors reported that its pending home sales index, a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts, fell 30% in May after a revised 6% increase in April.
Factory orders fell 1.4% in May, more than the 0.5% decrease economists had anticipated. The drop — the biggest since March 2009 — ended eight straight monthly gains.
Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 13,000 to 472,000 for the week ending June 26. Continuing claims for the week ending June 19 rose by 43,000 to 4.62 million. The unemployment rate in June fell to 9.5% from 9.7% in May.
Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on chain store sales on July 7 and wholesale trade on July 9.
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